On March 2 at 4:30 p.m., Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Chief Ron Rogers halted all recovery efforts based on the totality of circumstances he has previously publicly released.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's detectives then launched a death investigation and conducted interviews with fire personnel and others involved in this incident.

Detectives have consulted with the Hillsborough County Medical Examiners Office and have concluded that based on all data of the incident collected thus far including depth of the sinkhole as well as composition of the soil and water; there is no environmental conditions inside the sinkhole that could sustain human life and along with the opinion of Medical Examiner's Office, Jeffery Bush is presumed deceased.